India's Krishnapatnam Begins Container Service

(October 14, 2011)

Since the beginning of August, we have been monitoring the congestion in the Indian ports. Congestion continues in Nhava Sheva and now in Chennai. This severe terminal congestion has now caused some carriers to begin charging a "congestion" surcharge, therefore vessels are being diverted to neighboring ports, when possible. (See article from JOC below)

Your UniGroup Worldwide Move Manager will contact you should any of your shipments be affected. Alternative routing options will be provided for any new bookings, if available, to avoid these additional fees.

The Journal of Commerce Online

Krishnapatnam Container Terminal, about 112 miles north of Chennai, offers 2,130 feet of berth, a 44-feet draft, 4,000 ground slots and an annual capacity of 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent container units. The port marked its first container vessel call with the arrival of the Maersk Dalton, a vessel with a nominal capacity of 4,230 TEUs, on Sept. 30.

“Container handling services at KPCT endorse the strategic location of the port linking it to key overseas import and export destinations, and offering connectivity to domestic destinations,” said the port operator.

The terminal will have state-of-the-art infrastructure, including five mobile harbor cranes, four quay cranes, six reach stackers and adequate back-up facilities, by early 2012, port officials said. Krishnapatnam, which started operations in July 2008, is the largest privately-developed multi-purpose cargo hub on India’s east coast.

Port developer Hyderabad-based Navayuga Group recently entered an agreement with state-owned rail operator Container Corporation of India to jointly develop container freight stations and inland container depots at the site.

KPCT’s container operations begin as the Chennai, India’s largest east coast container hub, struggles to cope with increased congestion and yard delays amid trucking problems and surging traffic volume. The problems spurred major ocean carriers to levy port congestion surcharges on Chennai shipments and reroute vessels to neighboring gateway ports.

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